ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST – Some might say the general store in Chantry Flat is stuck in a time warp that takes visitors back to the 1950s.

Be that as it may, owners of the Adams’ Pack Station – thought to be the last of its kind in the United States – said they find themselves stuck between the county Department of Public Health and federal and state authorities.

The county wants to see the pack station, which has been in business since 1953, get into compliance with health codes. Forest authorities want it to remain a historic landmark, which limits the amount (and kind) of renovations that can be done.

“We’re kind of stuck between two bureaucracies,” said Rich Conforti, the store’s general manager.

County officials have granted the pack station a temporary operating permit, but it expires in a month and it’s contingent on the store complying with health codes.

That would mean, at a minimum, installing a new mop sink, and could mean as much as installing a new septic system, said Deb Burgess, the owner of the store, who also lives on-site.

“What we mainly do is sell soda and chips,” Burgess said. “We’re just shocked that this has become a problem.”

Located 3 miles up a road starting from the top of Santa Anita Avenue, Chantry Flat is an unusually verdant section of the mountains, with tall trees, green grass and canyons with running streams and water falls. There are several popular hikes that start in the area and on weekends, parking is hard to come by.

The general store is up a short dirt road near the parking lot, and has long served as an informal information center, as a place to coordinate rescues for lost hikers, and as a place for people to relax after a hike.

Until the health department visited the site in January, Burgess and Conforti grilled hot dogs and hamburgers on weekends.

The store has a stable with goats and another long-standing tradition of the area: a team of donkeys that carries supplies to dozens of cabins and a Christian campground in the area. Hikers in the area can frequently hear the bray of the donkeys even up on the mountain trails above Chantry Flat.

Without the store, Burgess said she won’t be able to run the pack center anymore.

The store has submitted plans for how to get into compliance, but they have been rejected and will need to be revised, according to Ken Murray, a public health department enforcement official.

He said the ability of the store to get into compliance will probably depend on whether its owners want to continue to grill there or just sell prepackaged food.

“When you start grilling, there are a whole bunch of other requirements,” Murray said. “These are typical problems to have in such a remote location.”

Compounding the difficulty is that the structure could have historical landmark status, said Conforti, and the U.S. Forest Service and state rules limit the types of renovations that can be done.

If renovations need to be done, the store will have to get permits and then submit the plan to the U.S. Forest Service, said Marty Dumpis, the deputy forest supervisor of the Angeles National Forest.

The Forest Service would make a recommendation and then the plan would go to the state Office of Historic Preservation to determine if the building should have historical landmark status and if the renovations are consistent with that status.

“It’s very unique, so I think the state would have an interest in it,” said Dumpis.

In the meantime, Conforti said, the idea that somehow the historic nature of the pack station will change to keep up with health codes is frustrating.

And some of those proposed changes go right to the heart of the store’s role as a rustic outpost in the wilderness.

For example, the county requires that store employees use a public bathroom. The closest one is a few hundred yards, down the dirt road. Employees, who are all relatives or close friends of either Burgess or Conforti, have always used the bathroom in Burgess’s home.

The mop sink also doesn’t make a lot of sense to Conforti, since the area where customers can sit and eat is outdoors and on concrete.

“I’ve always cleaned it with a leaf blower and a hose,” Conforti said.

For now, Burgess is seeking donations to help pay for renovations and another temporary permit.

“I mortgaged my home and used up my 401k – all my money – to get this place,” said Burgess. “It was kind of a crazy business plan, but there is no other place like it.”

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